The present invention relates to techniques for detecting a physical interaction signal produced by at least one physical interactive ID structure and determining the identity of the object according to the detected physical interaction signal.
Typically, mass-produced objects share the same form and cannot be distinguished from one another. However, for many uses, it is useful or necessary to be able to distinguish among mass-produced objects. For example, a plastic bottle is a commonly used container for various beverages. However, the same bottle may be used as a container for non-edible or toxic substances, such as detergent. In such situations, it may be necessary to be able distinguish between two similar bottles may be required to ensure each one is properly used based on its actual contents. Another example is in the area of medication administration. In this situation, it is necessary to know whether the user has taken the right pill at the right time. Similarly, another example may be recognizing the opening of a particular door to enable access control. This also requires the ability to determine which specific door entry is attempted.
Conventional approaches may include object tagging techniques such as barcode, RFID, OCR, magnetic strips, and the like. These techniques either require some digital form of encoding or tag to be attached to the object of interest, or require an advanced form of sensing (e.g., optical, radio). The ability to embed these encoding techniques into mass production is limited. Further, the cost of the encoding or tag for each object, as well the cost of sensing equipment, may be significant.
Accordingly, a need arises for techniques by which a specific object being interacted with may be identified that may be cheaply and easily included in mass-produced objects.